Govt to set up 6 more NIPER institutes

TNN|

Apr 29, 2007, 12.00 AM IST

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HYDERABAD: Pharmaceutical industry may get an all-new talent pool. After the success of the NIPER institute at Mohali in Punjab, the government is now planning to add another 5-6 institutes under the same brand name.

This will require an investment of about Rs 900 crore as each institute needs Rs 180 crore for the infrastructure. The funds for the new institutes will be allocated under the eleventh five-year-plan, the joint secretary department of chemicals and petro-chemicals GS Sandhu said on Saturday.

The government has already identified three sites for the institutes — Hajipur, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, apart from Hyderabad where the institute is likely to start operations this year. Till the infrastructure is created for the Hyderabad Niper, the institute will use the facilities provided by Indian Institute of Chemical technology (IICT) here.

Out of the proposed investment of Rs 180 crore per institution, the government is seeking a private investment of Rs 60-70 crore mainly for the building and the infrastructure. "The investment could be made by consortium of private players or a single private player," Mr Sandhu added.

About Rs 90 crore will be required for the laboratory equipment out of which about Rs 30 crore would be invested by the private sector as per the plan. In case companies are not able to get the returns expected from their investment in these institutes the government plans to make up for the gap by releasing money to the companies concerned.

The board of governors of the proposed institutes will be comprised of representatives from the state governments, central government and the industry. The institutes will offer post graduate and doctorate degrees to students. Private companies will also be roped in for research sponsorships and fellowships in these institutes.

Keeping abreast with the WTO commitments, these institutes will focus on intellectual property protection and bio-informatics apart from offering courses such as medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacology and toxicology.